TOWSON, Md.--Junior Jesse Gutekunst led all scorers with 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first "double-double" of the season to lead the Hood College men's basketball team to an 83-72 victory over defending tournament champion Villa Julie College in the consolation round of the second annual Provident Bank Pride of Maryland Tournament Saturday at Goucher College.

The Blazers (3-1) advance to the fifth-place game Sunday at 2 p.m. against St. Mary's College, which defeated Frostburg State University, 86-68.

Hood got off to a fast start and took a 9-3 lead in the first three minutes of the game. The Blazers opened their lead up to as many as eight points (16-8) at the 14:02 mark on a putback by sophomore Tim Abercrombie. The Mustangs charged back and took their first lead of the game with 11:21 remaining when Cilk McSweeney's jumper gave Villa Julie a 19-18 lead.

Trailing 29-25 with seven minutes to play in the first half, the Blazers used a layup by Abercrombie, a three-pointer by sophomore Ryan Junghans and a jumper by Michael McCarrick to assume a 32-29 lead. The Mustangs rallied once again to tie the score at 38 with two minutes remaining, but Hood senior Darnell Edmonds fed classmate Sean Robine in the lane who converted the layup and was fouled. Robine hit the free throw to complete the three-point play and Hood took a 41-38 lead into the locker room.

The Blazers opened the game up at the start of the second half, outscoring Villa Julie 11-2 in the first 3:21 to boost their lead to 52-40. A layup by Junghans gave the Blazers their biggest lead of the game, 62-49, midway through the second stanza. The Mustangs closed to within five with just over four minutes to play on a layup by Vincent Johnson, but the Blazers countered at the other end with an Abercrombie triple and the Mustangs got no closer.

Despite seeing limited minutes due to foul trouble, Gutekunst hit 11-15 from the floor for a season-high 29 points to go along with a team-best 10 rebounds in only 27 minutes of action. Abercrombie finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists while Robine chipped in 10 points, all in the first half. The Mustangs held Hood's leading scorer, Junghans, to just eight points but the sophomore picked off four steals and tallied three assists.